Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 195-16-.01 - General Definitions
(1) "Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce"
means the organization and its office created under O.C.G.A. 49-10.
(2) "Loan" refers to the service repayable
grant awarded by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to applicants who
are desirous of becoming APRNs practicing nursing in rural areas of
Georgia.
(3) "Loan Repayment"
refers to repayment of all or a portion of recipient's outstanding education
loan debt. Qualifying debt is held by an established lending institution,
identifiable as originating from the debt incurred to obtain an APRN education
and fully disclosed at the time of application.
(4) "APRN" means a certified nurse midwife,
certified nurse anesthetist, certified nurse practitioner providing primary
care and/or mental health care.
(5)
"Qualified Debt" is any debt incurred to obtain a nursing education, fully
disclosed at the time of application, and is currently not in default. Even if
a creditor now considers the defaulted loan to be in good standing, such debt
shall not be considered Qualified Debt.
(6) "APRN Education Loan Debt" refers to
loans incurred by the applicant to finance his/her APRN education that remains
unpaid during the contract period.
(7) "Eligible and Qualified Applicant" refers
to, as minimum qualifications, an APRN with outstanding nursing education loan
debt, licensed to practice as an advanced practice registered nurse in the
State of Georgia who desires to serve in a Board-approved, rural area of
Georgia.
(8) "Nursing School" means
an institution of nursing education that received accreditation or provisional
accreditation by a national accrediting body in nursing education designed to
qualify the graduate for licensure by the Georgia Board of Nursing.
(9) "Recipient" means any person who receives
any amount of funding from for Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce Rural
Areas Assistance Program of the Georgia Board of Health Care
Workforce.
(10) "Service Repayment"
means the period of service earned by the APRN, as approved by the Board,
toward repayment of the service cancelable loan in professional advanced
practice registered nurse's services rendered by the recipient and as required
under the provisions of the loan contract.
(11) "Credit" means that amount of time
credited to the recipient for services rendered in compliance with the
provisions of the contract. Credit is applied one year of funding for each year
of service rendered in compliance with the repayment provisions of the
contract, but may be prorated at the Board's discretion and
determination.
(12) "Rural and
Underserved Area" is defined as a Board approved rural county in Georgia of
50,000 population or less according to the United States decennial census of
2010 of any future such census or at any hospital or facility operated directly
by the Department of Public Health, Department of Community Health, Department
of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Department of Human
Resources, Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Facilities falling under the direct jurisdiction of the mentioned state
agencies must include advanced practice registered nursing employment by
approved agency or, in case of contracted employment, the APRN must be treating
patients of the approved agency with equal provisions given to that agency's
missions.
(13) "Contract Renewal"
means the yearly renewal of the loan repayment contract between the recipient
and the Board. The contract period shall be renewable on a one-year basis for a
period not exceeding four years and a total amount not exceeding
$40,000.00.
(14) "Award Amount"
refers to the annual amount obligated to a loan repayment recipient. The award
amount shall be determined by the Board. At its annual meeting, the Board may,
within its discretion, set the award amount for new loans within the limit of
the appropriated funds for the budget year. Said amount shall be set forth in
the official minutes of the Board.
(15) "Default" means breach of contract by
the recipient in failing to begin or failing to complete the contractual
service obligation of the APRN for Rural Areas Assistance Program.
(16) "Ad Damnum or Double Damages" refers to
the penalty resulting from a loan repayment recipient defaulting on their
contractual obligations. Default requires immediate repayment of double the
total principal amount received less any pro-rated amount for repaid service as
provided in the contract.
(17)
"Cancellation of Contract" refers to the discretionary power of Georgia Board
of Health Care Workforce to cancel any contract for cause deemed sufficient by
the Board, provided such authority is not exercised unreasonably or
arbitrarily.
(18) "Full Time"
refers to 40 hours of work required per week to fulfill service obligations.
Full time is considered at least 32 clinical hours providing direct patient
care during normal clinic hours at the approved practice site. Remaining hours
must be spent providing practice-related administrative activities. On-call
hours are not considered part of the full time requirement. No more than 7
weeks (35 workdays) per year can be spent away from the practice for vacation,
holidays, continuing professional education, illness or any other reason.
Absences greater than 7 weeks a year will extend the service commitment. The
practice time requirement can be split between two or more counties, provided
that none of the practice location counties exceeds the 50,000 population
limit.
(19) "Compelling Reasons"
refers to conditions such as a life threatening illness or loss of ability to
perform the duties of an APRN or to be gainfully employed due to illness or
accident. The Board may consent to a lesser measure of damages for compelling
reasons.
Notes
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